Amid increasing calls for a Security Council reference of Syria to the International Criminal Court (Amnesty and others) due to the breakdown on the civilians by the Syrian government, the UN Human Rights Chief fortified this claim by lending credence to this cause of prosecuting international crimes being committed in Syria.

In fact, earlier Libya had raised questions about the ‘double standards’ of the referral system to the ICC by the UNSC.

The pressure on the UNSC is increasing to pass a resolute decision on whether it would refer Syria to the ICC, as evidence strongly points towards commission of international crimes by the al-Assad regime. Although the political nature of international criminal justice, about which I have blogged earlier, is clearly affecting the cause of peace and justice.